Pope Gregory II

Pope Gregory II (669-11 February 731) was Pope from 715 to 731, succeeding Pope Constantine and preceding Pope Gregory III.

Biography
Gregorius was born in 669 AD in Rome, and in 715 AD he was consecrated as pope. He defied Emperor Leo III of Byzantium, whose iconoclasm destroyed several Catholic artifacts, claiming that their imagery was the equivalent of heresy. The trouble that ensued in Gregory's rivalry with the Byzantines would lead to revolts, schisms, and civil wars which would make the popes secular rulers instead of spiritual rulers.